THE THESIS

STATEMENT
THETHESISSTATEMENTISTHATSENTENCEORTWOINYOURTEXTthatcontainsthefocus
ofyouressayandtellsyourreaderwhattheessayisgoingtobeabout.Althoughitiscertainly
possibletowriteagoodessaywithoutathesisstatement(manynarrativeessays,forexample,
containonlyanimpliedthesisstatement),thelackofathesisstatementmaywellbeasymptom
ofanessaybesetbyalackoffocus.Manywritersthinkofathesisstatementasanumbrella:
everythingthatyoucarryalonginyouressayhastofitunderthisumbrella,andifyoutryto
takeonpackagesthatdon'tfit,youwilleitherhavetogetabiggerumbrellaorsomething's
goingtogetwet.
Thethesisstatementisalsoagoodtestforthescopeofyourintent.Theprincipleto
rememberisthatwhenyoutrytodotoomuch,youendupdoinglessornothingatall.Canwe
writeagoodpaperaboutproblemsinhighereducationintheUnitedStates?Atbest,sucha
paperwouldbevagueandscatteredinitsapproach.Canwewriteagoodpaperaboutproblems
inhighereducationinConnecticut?Well,we'regettingthere,butthat'sstillanawfullybig
topic,somethingwemightbeabletohandleinabookoraPh.D.dissertation,butcertainlynot
inapapermeantforaCompositioncourse.Canwewriteapaperaboutproblemswithinthe
communitycollegesysteminConnecticut.Nowwe'renarrowingdowntosomethinguseful,but
oncewestartwritingsuchapaper,wewouldfindthatwe'releavingoutsomuchinformation,
somanyideasthatevenmostcasualbrainstormingwouldproduce,thatwe'renotaccomplishing
much.WhatifwewroteabouttheproblemofcommunitycollegesinConnecticutbeingso
closetogethergeographicallythattheytendtoduplicateprogramsunnecessarilyandimpingeon
eachother'sturf?Nowwehaveafocusthatwecanprobablywriteaboutinafewpages
(althoughmore,certainly,couldbesaid)anditwouldhaveagoodargumentativeedgetoit.To
backupsuchathesisstatementwouldrequireagooddealofwork,however,andwemightbe
betteroffifwelimitedthediscussiontoanexampleofhowtwoparticularcommunitycolleges
tendtoworkinconflictwitheachother.It'snotamatterofbeinglazy;it'samatteroflimiting
ourdiscussiontotheworkthatcanbeaccomplishedwithinacertainnumberofpages.
Thethesisstatementshouldremainflexibleuntilthepaperisactuallyfinished.Itoughttobe
oneofthelastthingsthatwefusswithintherewritingprocess.Ifwediscovernewinformation
intheprocessofwritingourpaperthatoughttobeincludedinthethesisstatement,thenwe'll
havetorewriteourthesisstatement.Ontheotherhand,ifwediscoverthatourpaperhasdone
adequateworkbutthethesisstatementappearstoincludethingsthatwehaven'tactually
addressed,thenweneedtolimitthatthesisstatement.Ifthethesisstatementissomethingthat
weneededpriorapprovalfor,changingitmightrequirethepermissionoftheinstructororthesis
committee,butitisbettertoseeksuchpermissionthantowriteapaperthattriestodotoomuch
orthatclaimstodolessthanitactuallyaccomplishes.

Thethesisstatementusuallyappearsnearthebeginningofapaper.Itcanbethefirst
sentenceofanessay,butthatoftenfeelslikeasimplistic,unexcitingbeginning.Itmore
frequentlyappearsatorneartheendofthefirstparagraphortwo.Hereisthefirstparagraphof
ArthurSchlesinger,Jr.'sessayTheCrisisofAmericanMasculinity.Noticehoweverything
drivesthereadertowardthelastsentenceandhowthatlastsentenceclearlysignalswhattherest
ofthisessayisgoingtodo.

What has happened to the American male? For a long time, he seemed
utterly confident in his manhood, sure of his masculine role in society,
easy and definite in his sense of sexual identity. The frontiersmen of
James Fenimore Cooper, for example, never had any concern about
masculinity; they were men, and it did not occur to them to think twice
about it. Even well into the twentieth century, the heroes of Dreiser, of
Fitzgerald, of Hemingway remain men. But one begins to detect a new
theme emerging in some of these authors, especially in Hemingway: the
theme of the male hero increasingly preoccupied with proving his virility
to himself. And by mid-century, the male role had plainly lost its rugged
clarity of outline. Today men are more and more conscious of maleness
not as a fact but as a problem. The ways by which American men affirm
their masculinity are uncertain and obscure. There are multiplying
signs, indeed, that something has gone badly wrong with the
American male's conception of himself.
Thefirstparagraphservesaskindofafunnelopeningtotheessaywhichdrawsandinvites
readersintothediscussion,whichisthenfocusedbythethesisstatementbeforetheworkofthe
essayactuallybegins.Youwilldiscoverthatsomewriterswilldelaythearticulationofthe
paper'sfocus,itsthesis,untiltheveryendofthepaper.Thatispossibleifitisclearto
thoughtfulreadersthroughoutthepaperwhatthebusinessoftheessaytrulyis;frankly,it's
probablynotagoodideaforbeginningwriters.
Avoidannouncingthethesisstatementasifitwereathesisstatement.Inotherwords,avoid
usingphrasessuchas"Thepurposeofthispaperis...."or"Inthispaper,Iwillattempt
to...."Suchphrasesbetraythispapertobetheworkofanamateur.Ifnecessary,writethe
thesisstatementthatwaythefirsttime;itmighthelpyoudetermine,infact,thatthisisyour
thesisstatement.Butwhenyourewriteyourpaper,eliminatethebaldassertionthatthisisyour
thesisstatementandwritethestatementitselfwithoutthatannoying,unnecessarypreface.
HerearethefirsttwoparagraphsofGeorgeOrwell'sclassicessay,"PoliticsandtheEnglish
Language"(1946).Whichofthesesentenceswouldyousayisorarethethesisstatementofthe
essaywhichistofollow?Everythingthatfollowsinthisessay,then,wouldhavetobe
somethingthatfitsunderthe"umbrella"ofthatthesisstatement.

Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the
English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we
cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our civilization is
decadent, and our languageso the argument runsmust inevitably
share in the general collapse. It follows that any struggle against the
abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to
electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the halfconscious belief that language is a natural growth and not an instrument
which we shape for our own purposes.
Now, it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have
political and economic causes: it is not due simply to the bad influence of
this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause,
reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an
intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because
he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely
because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the
English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts
are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to
have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible. Modern
English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by
imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary
trouble. If one gets rid of these habits one can think more clearly, and to
think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration: so
that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive
concern of professional writers. I will come back to this presently, and I
hope that by that time the meaning of what I have said here will have
become clearer. Meanwhile, here are five specimens of the English
language as it is now habitually written.